Australian Fugitive Arrested In Pattaya

[webfact]

Australian fugitive arrested in Pattaya

Pattaya, Chon Buri - Police arrested an Australian fugitive here late Sunday night.

George Geprgiou, 30, was arrested at the PS Apartme3nt in the Central Pattaya at 30 minutes after midnight.

Police acted on the request of the Australian authorities, who coordinated through the Office of the Attorney General.

He was sent to Bangkok pending a trial by the Criminal Court as to whether he would be extradited to Australia.

-- The Nation 200910/26

[Donnyboy]

what (alleged) crime did he commit in oz?

[MrWiggle]

What alledged crime have they all not committed

[webfact]

what (alleged) crime did he commit in oz?

an update will be posted if available

[tony03]

A Google English-translation of The Nation's Thai-language news service article on this case.

It is slightly garbled in it's translation.

I'm not sure if the Aussie was smuggling kangaroos to Thailand or stole diamonds in Australia, but here it is:

Capture kangaroo western border. Cases fled diamond cross.

Rest of the article is here:

http://translate.google.co.th/translate?hl...cial%26hs%3DciG

[Scott]

Now that is a very interesting translation. Clears everything up for me!

[JayBangkok]

Now that is a very interesting translation. Clears everything up for me!

It sure is.

It turns out he is a "border bandit" and obviously the "bog people" were involved somewhere along the line.

Are the bog people the guys that steal toilet rolls from toilets and leave them on restaurant tables?

[Thongkorn]

It seems like The big G8 Country's are going after Fugitives ,America Australia And The UK are looking to chase and apprehend Criminals that have fled there own Country , So if you Are on the Run In Thailand look out because the Thai government are cooperating with Governments that are seeking Fugitives .

[bhakta]

It seems like The big G8 Country's are going after Fugitives ,America Australia And The UK are looking to chase and apprehend Criminals that have fled there own Country , So if you Are on the Run In Thailand look out because the Thai government are cooperating with Governments that are seeking Fugitives .

As well the Thai Government should be. Thailand should not be known as a safe haven for fugitives.

[tony03]

A Google English-translation of The Nation's Thai-language news service article on this case.

It is slightly garbled in it's translation.

I'm not sure if the Aussie was smuggling kangaroos to Thailand or stole diamonds in Australia, but here it is:

Capture kangaroo western border. Cases fled diamond cross.

Rest of the article is here:

http://translate.google.co.th/translate?hl...cial%26hs%3DciG

As it turns out, he WASN'T smuggling kangaroos into Thailand afterall, but instead is accused of stealing a single diamond ring worth nearly 31 Million Baht:

Man arrested in Thailand over $1 million ring

Sky News Australia, Updated: 20:50, Monday October 26, 2009

A 30-year-old Australian man arrested in Thailand over the smash and grab theft of a $1 million ring from a jewellery shop in Melbourne says he is innocent.

George Georgiou, from Northcote in Melbourne, was arrested by Thai police in a raid on an apartment in the seaside resort of Pattaya in the early hours on Monday.

Thai police transferred Georgiou to Bangkok where he is being held pending moves to have him extradited to Australia.

The Australian Attorney-General's Department said the detention in Thailand of Georgiou was in response to an urgent provisional arrest request from Australia.

It was now a matter for Australia to proceed with a formal extradition request, the spokesman said.

The Attorney-General's Department said Georgiou was wanted by Australian authorities to face prosecution for theft and damage-related offences arising from two separate incidents.

In late March a man dressed all in black and wearing a beanie, smashed the display window at the Hardy Brothers Jewellers in Collins Street, Melbourne grabbing the A$1 million ring.

A copy of the Victoria Police press release had been forwarded to Thai Police in Bangkok.

'I'm innocent; they (the authorities) have questioned me many times (already),' Georgiou told AAP in Bangkok.

Hand-cuffed and wearing a green shirt and grey shorts he pulled the shirt over his head to prevent Thai media photographing him.

At the official police press conference, several bank account books were on display as well as several pieces of jewellery in small plastic bags.

'I'm a suspect in Australia. I don't know what's going on,' Georgiou said.

'I can't see any evidence. They just want to question me.'

Georgiou said he had served a 10-month prison sentence in Australia for burglary in 2004.

'I had a gambling problem,' he said for the house break-in five years ago.

'I am just a suspect. They are taking me back. I've done nothing,' he said.

'They just want to question me. They have waited a long time for me to go back (to Australia),' he said.

Georgiou has been living in Thailand since March.

Link to story: http://skynews.co.nz/world/article.aspx?id=387119

[webfact]

@ tony03

thx for posting this info. I have added the link to that article

[Phatcharanan]

It seems like The big G8 Country's are going after Fugitives ,America Australia And The UK are looking to chase and apprehend Criminals that have fled there own Country , So if you Are on the Run In Thailand look out because the Thai government are cooperating with Governments that are seeking Fugitives .

I now have to pay my parking fine ??

[chiangdan]

It seems like The big G8 Country's are going after Fugitives ,America Australia And The UK are looking to chase and apprehend Criminals that have fled there own Country , So if you Are on the Run In Thailand look out because the Thai government are cooperating with Governments that are seeking Fugitives .

The Victoria Police in Australia are chasing two Thai Nationals who fled back to Thailand after murdering a 29 yr old Melbourne man. They don't seem to be getting to much help from the Thai authorities who apparently know where they are.

[RickBradford]

Capture kangaroo western border.

Thai newspapers often refer to Australians as จิงโจ้, 'kangaroos'.

[geriatrickid]

Thai newspapers often refer to Australians as จิงโจ้, 'kangaroos'.

Sort of cute.

Could be called alot of worse things I suppose, but just imagine if an Australian newspaper used a "cute" term for Thais.

Hopefully, the accused won't be hopping out of his detention....... *groan*

[Rimmer]

Pattaya, October 28, 2009, [PDN]. Bangkok Immigration Police arrested an Australian fugitive early on the morning of October 26 in Pattaya. The man is accused of having staged a daring smash-and-grab from a Melbourne jewellery store in which he stole several items of jewellery, including a diamond ring worth almost Aus$ 1 million. The man initially denied the charge, but later confessed. He is likely be extradited to Australia to face charges after a preliminary trial in Bangkok.

The police surprised the 30-year old man, George Georgiou, who was staying with his Thai girlfriend in P.S.Apartment, Central Pattaya, at 12.30 am, on 26 October. Georgiou had entered Thailand via Suvarnabhumi Airport from Melbourne on October 17. The police confronted Georgiou with an arrest warrant issued by the Victoria police, dated 19 August, 2009, in connection with a robbery from upmarket Hardy Brothers Jewellers , Melbourne ,Victoria, where jewellery items were stolen, including a 9.1 karat diamond ring, worth about Aus1$million/ Bt 30 million. The incident had apparently happened at 4.40 pm, on 29 March 2009. On the arrest warrant was a photo, which Georgiou acknowledged was of him, along with his name and other details, but he initially refused to accept the charge, professing his innocence.

The Bangkok Immigration Police team, led by Pol.Lt.Col. Pariwat Satjatham, were acting in collaboration with the local police on behalf of the Victoria police, who had requested the aid of the Thai police, co-ordinated through the Office of the Attorney General. The request was made by the Victoria police following the discovery that Georgiou had fled to Pattaya. Police asked him to explain certain evidence found in his possession, namely a white item similar to diamond, 7 green precious stones, 4 pink ones, a blue one, a jewellery scale, a device for measuring the size of jewellery items, 2 magnifying glasses, a bank book with Bt900,000 baht, a mobile phone and 50 small plastic jewellery bags. When presented with this evidence, Georgiou said the jewellery items were fake, and that he had bought them all in Pattaya and Bangkok.

The Bangkok Immigration Police then arrested him and took him back to Bangkok to hold him in custody. At a press conference held at 2pm the same day, police revealed that, after questioning Georgiou, he had, in fact, confessed to the robbery, but had maintained all the jewellery he had stolen had been sold on to jewellery shops and other individuals (‘fences’) whose names are being withheld. Georgiou said he was a jewellery collector. He will initially stand trial at the Bangkok Criminal Court, before a decision is taken as to whether or not to extradite him to Australia.

The Brisbane Times reported at the time of the robbery that the thief – “dressed in black and wearing a black beanie - used a 1.8-kilogram hammer to smash the hole in the display window of Hardy Brothers Jewellers in Collins Street. Detective Senior Constable Al Brgoc of Melbourne City detectives said he was surprised by the brazen nature of the theft.” The thief apparently “grabbed the hand-made 9.1 carat round brilliant cut solitaire engagement ring, billed by Hardy Brothers as the Million Dollar Ring, and fled into an arcade and along nearby Equitable Place,” The Brisbane Times reported on March 30, 2009... The robbery was apparently conducted in broad daylight at 4.40pm, when there were a considerable number of shoppers and people waiting at a tram stop nearby.

Source:

http://pattayadailynews.com